New Delhi, February 14 Even a small piece of space debris, harmless on Earth, can be deadly for spacecraft if it travels at high speed.
There are over a million such objects, each one centimetre or larger, orbiting Earth. Experts continuously track them to prevent collisions that could jeopardize billion-dollar space missions.
Indian and international space engineers are using artificial intelligence to track these objects and determine their potential collision with active satellites and other space assets.
"We have seen more than 15 close proximity warnings for a single 50-kg satellite at least once a year," said Anirudh Sharma, founder and CEO of Digantara Industries.
Digantara specialises in space situational awareness, which involves tracking objects in orbit, including active and defunct satellites, remnants of disintegrated satellites, and even asteroids.
"When we conduct space domain awareness, we primarily track objects. It is important for us to know where this object will be, for example, seven days later. We currently use statistical models for this because they are proven and have been used for a long time," he said.
Digantara has developed software that uses AI to assess changes, patterns, or violations of objects in orbit.
"As orbital congestion increases, India's focus on space situational awareness and debris monitoring is becoming increasingly important. This is because reliable AI is now a safety imperative, not just a desirable feature," said Lt Gen A K Bhatt (retd), Director General of the Indian Space Association (ISpA).
Pixxel Space, a Bengaluru-based startup building a constellation of Earth observation satellites, is using AI to analyze the vast amount of satellite imagery data it collects.
"Artificial intelligence is very well suited to this type of data because there is a huge amount of data, and no human could possibly go through it all," said Awais Ahmed, founder and CEO of Pixxel Space.
He explained that AI models can process all the data and monitor the smallest changes, ensuring better action on issues related to areas such as border security, agricultural farms, crop yield, oil and gas leaks, or pollution sources.
Pixxel has an AI platform called Aurora, which combines four data sets – very high resolution data, hyperspectral data, SAR data, and multispectral data – to provide a comprehensive view.
He said advances in AI have also made it possible to shift data centres to space-based platforms.
"We can put GPUs and computing power on satellites, launch several of them, and utilise the free solar power available. This allows us to take images of a specific area, which are completely analysed in orbit, and only the report or insights can be downloaded," Ahmed said.
Sharma believes that AI will significantly benefit many space applications happening across the world.
"One of the things we are focusing on is autonomous satellite operations, which means if there is debris or an active satellite approaching, the system should automatically detect this and avoid a collision," he said.
Digantara is working on an algorithm that can be used on its next batch of satellites, enabling them to communicate with each other and apply concepts of autonomous satellite operations.
"This will definitely become a reality in the next five years because autonomous satellite operations will be key to ensuring the sustainability of the orbits where these satellites are operating," Sharma said.
Esri India, a GIS technology firm, is integrating AI into GIS applications, which are crucial for building the country's geospatial and AI readiness.
"Our new GIS and AI Competency Centre in Noida, backed by an investment of Rs 150 crore, brings together AI specialists, data scientists, and GIS experts to develop intelligent solutions that empower our customers to extract richer insights from complex geospatial data, automate routine workflows, and make faster, more informed decisions," said Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India.
Kumar said AI represents the future, and through collaborative efforts in building capabilities and nurturing talent, India can establish a strong global footprint in AI-driven geospatial innovation.
"Our algorithms automate imagery classification, filter low-quality data like cloud cover, and detect subtle changes in terrain or infrastructure over time," said Rupesh Kumar, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Suhora Technologies.
He explained that the firm is also building predictive models that help users anticipate trends and guide future action, not just understand what has already happened.
"Our mission is to simplify complex space analytics and make satellite intelligence accessible, scalable, and actionable for every sector," said Kumar.
Lt Gen A K Bhatt said AI is rapidly becoming the operating layer of India's space economy, helping companies design smarter missions, run spacecraft more autonomously, and turn raw space data into real-world decisions at scale.
"AI is rapidly reshaping the space and satcom sector, from connectivity to cognitive infrastructure. In satellite communications, the biggest change is that networks are starting to learn from their own telemetry, using machine learning to spot anomalies early, predict congestion and service degradation, and automate troubleshooting to improve availability even as traffic and complexity rise," said Gautam Sharma, Managing Director, Viasat India.